I glanced at myself in the mirror, not fully recognizing the female who stared back at me. The last few weeks of staying with Odhran, isolated in this Scottish retreat, had done wonders for me. He kept the strangers at bay, with only a handful of staff here in the morning before they left in the afternoon, allowing us to have private time the rest of the day.
We held each other and just talked about nothing in particular. And I treasured those slices of comfortable solace as we learned of each other. And during those quiet talks he’d feed me from his hand, insisting I just have “one more bite.”
I gained weight, had a more lustrous glow to my skin; my hair was fuller and looked less limp and lifeless. My cheeks were constantly flushed, not just from the happiness I felt and being well taken care of, but also from the copious amounts of pleasure I felt at living life.
We still hadn’t consummated the relationship, and I knew his wolf was growing restless. I knew enough about Lycans and fated mates that with each passing day his need for me would grow until it was uncomfortable, unbearable. But he never rushed me, never pressured me.
But every time the heat consumed me, every time I wanted to go further, my body seized up; my emotions and the trauma of my past betrayed me. And Odhran never complained, never acted put-off. He’d just hold me, stroke my hair, and tell me I was perfect, that he loved me.
Gods, did he love me. He told me daily, every time he saw me. He used “I love you” as a comma when he told me how he felt. He made sure I fully knew without a shadow of a doubt where he stood where I was concerned.
The girl looked back at me and smiled, the bags under her eyes and dark circles gone, the blueness of her irises shining brighter than they ever had.
I smoothed my hands down the outfit I picked for tonight. Odhran was taking me out, our first official “date.”
And tonight, he was taking me to something called “the movie theater.”
Although I was a little apprehensive that we would be going into town, I was also anticipating exploring my new home.
The place I used to live with my family would always hold a very special place in my heart, but my home was where my mate was, where Odhran was.
I left the bathroom and headed out of the room and down the stairs. I could see Odhran waiting by the front door, his hands in the front pockets of his dark slacks, his button-up fitting his broad shoulders and tapered waist to perfection.
He was such a large male, so big and strong, but even in civilized clothing, his air of wild and feral intensity couldn’t be tamed.
He was pacing, as if he were the one who was nervous, but as if he sensed me, he stopped and looked over, his nostrils flaring instantly, his gaze moving up and down my body.
For our date tonight I’d chosen a buttery soft cardigan set in a deep emerald green, and dark jeans that molded to my new fuller form.
“Oh. Sweetheart.” He ran a hand over his mouth as he kept eyeing me up and down. “Lass… I donna… I donna know what tae say. Ye’ve made me speechless.”
I felt my face heat and lifted my hands to place them on my cheeks, feeling my ultra-warm skin. I continued to descend the stairs and stopped in front of him. He held his hand out for me and I slipped my palm into his, letting him pull me against the hardness of his body.
He moved his hands over my upper arms, over my shoulders, and cupped either side of my throat, his thumbs coming to rest right over my pulse points. He swept the pads back and forth, and I felt myself instantly relaxing, heating… becoming aroused.
And he knew it, the perceptive male that he was knew how wet I was.
He leaned in so his mouth was right by my ear and breathed out huskily, “We could always stay in tonight?”
I closed my eyes and shivered, very tempted to agree with that, but when he pulled back and gave me a devilish smile, I knew he was sticking with the original plans.
“I promised ye a movie at the cinema, and I plan on delivering.” The heat came back in his eyes and he looked down at my mouth before licking his lips. “But that doesn’t mean when we get home tonight, I canna strip ye bare and drag my tongue all over that perfect body of yers before burying my face between yer thighs and making my girl come hard for me.”
Oh gods, the mouth on this male…
I could feel the hard length of him pressing against my belly, and those tendrils of desire started to become a wildfire in me, racing throughout my entire body until I knew there was no stopping it.
As if he knew we had to stop now or we really wouldn’t be leaving, he gave me one more lingering kiss before leading me out of the house and into the waiting vehicle.
The drive into town was long given the fact his home was out in the middle of nowhere, tucked away deep in the wooded Highlands, but I enjoyed the trip.
He held my hand the entire time and didn’t try to make small talk. He just drove as we listened to music.
Once in town, we had dinner before seeing the movie; the café was a little establishment that was intimate and occupied by only a handful of people. Once again, he was thinking about my comfort, making sure I was acclimated slowly back into society.
We walked along a small cobblestone sidewalk before the movie started, and he gave me a small history lesson on the town, how in the sixteenth century one of the wealthy families had the biggest scandal the town had ever encountered.
And that was a pregnancy out of wedlock by a servant.